Not So “Smart”
In response to a Recent NYTimes article (http://budurl.com/4m2q)
According to the article:
‘A new food-labeling campaign called Smart Choices, backed by most of the nation’s largest food manufacturers, is “designed to help shoppers easily identify smarter food and beverage choices.”’
An example of the “smart” label:
photo by g. Paul Burnnet
This label can now be found on foods like: Froot Loops, Fudgesicles, Skippy Peanut Butter, Mayonnaise, the list goes on. I am not nutritionist but nearly anyone could come to the conclusion that Froot Loops are not the best choice for any meal.
The “smart” is completely meaningless. Foods like Froot Loops are better than what? A doughnut? Better than the worst possible food choices? This green seal of approval is a misleading marketing scheme.
In the spirit of the “smart” label it might be best to put the label on all foods since eating cookies for breakfast would be better than eating a pepperoni pizza. And eating the pizza would be better than eating a deep fried candy bar….Get where I am going with this? The standard for what is “healthy” is non-existent.
At a time when the US is debating health care and obesity and type 2 Diabetes is on the rise we should be indignant toward lame attempts by corporate food giants to get us to consume more junk.
photo by g. Paul Burnnet
These food giants sell the most artificially enhanced, artificially flavored, processed and nutritionally debatable items. Most of the items with the “smart” label are loaded with sugar and corn syrup and corn fructose, not to mention chemicals that do not resemble anything like the the real foods they were meant to imitate.
No wonder we have a generation of children growing up with chronic illnesses. We consume food that are genetically, artificially and scientifically manufactured unlike to food of 50 or even 20 years ago. Most of the food represented by a “smart” label are manipulated and altered by scientists on an industrial level and morf into a new product that is cheaper to produce, more profitable, and barely recognizable to our bodies.
I encourage you to read the labels for yourself and really consider if the time you might save making a bowl of Froot Loops vs. a bowl of whole oatmeal is worth your health or your child’s health.
